“John has shown unprecedented leadership, boundless energy and a tireless ability to move the Blackhawks forward since he took over operations for the organization in 2007. It is only appropriate that we add CEO to his title as the direction of this franchise continues to strive for excellence.”

The new title itself won’t change McDonough’s role much if at all. It’s more of a cosmetic change than anything else. Not unlike several moves made a year ago after the Stanley Cup win.

Last summer several front office types received new promotions in title.

Jay Blunk was promoted from Senior Vice President of Business Operations to a more plain, bolder and broader, Executive Vice President. Stan Bowman had “Vice President” inserted before his General Manager tag. Chris Werner was promoted from Senior Director to Vice President of Ticket Operations and Customer Relations. Al MacIsaac got a Vice President tag to stitch over his previous Senior Director of Hockey Administration as well as Assistant to the President. MacIssac’s official title since has been Vice President/Assistant to the President. Kevin Cheveldayoff also had Senior Director of Hockey Operations tagged onto his plain Assistant General Manager distinction.

With all the elevations in status being handed out last summer, John McDonough’s stayed the same until this month.

“Well, we know over the last few years the signature here has been profound change, and what we’re looking for is continuity,” McDonough said. “For me I’m proud to play a small role in the development of this franchise, but this gives us more continuity.”

What a title has to do with continuity is your guess. And McDonough’s role in remodeling and advancing the Blackhawks’ business and hockey operations has been anything but small. But his use of the word continuity is still interesting.

McDonough, who turned 58 last month, will be entering the final year of his original five-year contract when he was signed on as team president on November 20, 2007. In January of 2010, McDonough signed a multi-year extension that is believed to at least take him through the 2015-16 season.

Going by what little is known about McDonough’s contract, term, the president wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Perhaps there is more to this story than we know? For sure McDonough associating his own promotion with the term ‘continuity’ when he is under contract for another five seasons does raise some suspicion.

The only thing we can tell for sure is this move does put some space between McDonough and those underneath him who were founded new titles last summer. Take that for what you will.

— According to Forbes, citing a team source, the Tampa Bay Lightning, despite increasing attendance by an average of 2,000 per game and three-round playoff run, will post a $25-30 million pre-tax loss this season. Read more »